


Familiar strangers

by gutterfortunecookie



Category: Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-04
Updated: 2015-05-04
Packaged: 2018-03-29 00:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3876325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gutterfortunecookie/pseuds/gutterfortunecookie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky is saved by a woman quite familiar to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Familiar strangers

They kicked, always in the side. He shielded his head as he curled into a ball. He never asked for this. He was well hidden and wasn't about to give up his position for a bunch of punk kids.

"Oi!"

His eyes opened as she ran towards them. The first one stepped forward, pushing up his sleeve.

"No," he whimpered as he shook on the ground.

She gave him a wink as she dropped a baton to her palm and snapped it to it's full length. She ducked his swinging arm and struck him hard in the elbow. He yelled in pain as he sank to his knees. She brought a knee up into his nose, breaking it with a satisfying crunch.

The second one tried drawing a knife. She swung once, hitting his wrist and sending the knife clashing into a garbage can. She stopped and watched both men as they turned on the ground in pain.

"Good evening, stranger."

She lifted him to his feet, leading him away from the alley. He stopped to catch his breath as she wedged the alley fence closed to trap the men there.

"Come on," she said taking his hand. "Sit in the back booth."

He walked ahead of her as she stopped at the counter in front of the cops. He was on the other side of the diner and could hear her beautiful voice clearly.

"After you guys are done, I need you to look into the alley."

"What happened this time?"

"The two men currently on the alley floor almost beat some guy to death."

"Is he okay? We'll need to take his statement. You need to stop being a hero."

"The guy is tougher than he looks and what'll happen next time if it's an old person or a pregnant woman? They're more than glad to press charges. That alley belongs to the diner, I exercised my right to kiss their ass since they decided to kick the crap out of a homeless man."

"Okay, Rosemary. We'll go. I expect you to save me some blueberry pie."

"Will do, officers."

They left to the alley as he smiled to himself. He was sitting in her section again. She looks again, making sure her manager isn't watching. He wouldn't like what she was doing but he looked bad this time and hungry. The blood on his lip would show eventually as she handed him a napkin.

"Here, you can use the restroom if you need to."

He gave a nod and a small smile as she poured him coffee. She slinked out a paper from her apron.

"I saved this for you, I already did the puzzle though. Do you like Turkey or Ham?"

He smiled again, trying to hide his face and tried to reach in his pocket until she stopped him.

"H-Ham," he whispered.

"No. It's okay. Just stay safe tonight."

She walked away as he turned in the booth, being reminded how much she looked like her, his Rosie.

 

_"So you leave tomorrow?"_

_"Yeah, they got me going across the pond."_

_"That's exciting! You should bring me back an authentic rosary."_

_"You don't believe in God."_

_"You would impress my mother."_

_"That I would, I know we may stop in Vatican city. I could get it blessed by the Pope then she'd let me marry you."_

_She stopped wiping the counter with a smirk._

_"What makes you think I've taken you back?"_

_"Well, I do need a reason to keep myself going, to come home. I mean who else am I going to write to?"_

_"What about Steve?"_

_"I want to talk about you right now, I leave tomorrow. This wasn't how I was going to imagine spending my last night with you or else I would have done something special last night. I don't know why you took a double shift here in the diner."_

_"Because I'll be able to save enough money so we can get somewhere for us when you get back. I can't stay with my mother forever."_

_"What makes you think I've taken you back?"_

_"Because I'm cute."_

_"No lies there. You should take a modeling job or a job as one of the traveling dancing girls. That way you can go with me. You would be the envy of every girl in Europe."_

_"You are missing the expo, go have a good time. I'm the one that gave you your dates. You two should be thankful," she teased wagging her finger._

_"Shh, don't let Steve know that. I've got to keep a reputation."_

_"Yeah, my ass."_

_"Where did this obscene language come from?"_

_"You."_

_She stopped for a moment was her face started to turn red._

_She took his hand leading him to the back door as she checked making sure they weren't followed. The alley was dark but it was safe. She threw her arms around him, taking him completely by surprise. She was shaking as he heard her sniffles._

_"Hey, hey. Don't do that. You promised."_

_"No, I didn't."_

_"Okay, now your just ruining the moment."_

_She laughed through her tears as her took in what he could of her. The fresh powder smell of her soft brown hair, the perfume he bought for her last Christmas. He wanted to remember the way she was and it wasn't like most girls._

_"I'm really going to miss you."_

_"I will more."_

_"Here."_

_She pulled a picture from her apron, placing it in his palm. He smile as the afternoon sun shined down on the picture. It was one they took two years ago on Coney Island. A group of them had taken the train there for the day. He had helped Steve recover from the Cyclone and the whole time he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. She had taken his hand and headed for the photo booth. While they sat in the ticket booth together, she introduced herself._

_"Hi, I'm Rosie."_

_"James, everyone calls me Bucky."_

_She laughed as she threw her head back. He could only smile at the sound of her voice._

 

_*snap*_

 

_"Oh god, I'm sorry that was rude."_

_"No, it's fine. Wait, wait. Make this one a funny one."_

_They suck out their tongues, making faces._

 

_*snap*_

 

_"Which one should we do next?"_

_"Switch places with me."_

_"Get out of the booth first, there's not enough room."_

_"You sure?"_

_He wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her on his lap, laughing as Rosie tried to move away._

 

_*snap*_

 

_"James!"_

_"We didn't even pose for that one!"_

_"That was your fault."_

_"Then let's make this one count."_

_He felt a small nudge in his stomach as she sat on his lap. He had only met her but he didn't care as he slowly turned her head. He met her gaze as he held her breath. His hand rested at the back of her neck, pulling her down, leaving a single kiss on her lips._

 

_*snap*_

 

_She didn't protest as the camera flashed. They pulled away breathless as Rosie blushed and looked down, seeing their hands together as he thumb brushed over her knuckle._

_"Maybe we should get back to the others."_

_"Yeah," she giggled, "Your friend wasn't looking so hot. You should stop him before he gets back on the Cyclone."_

_"That was my fault too."_

_They slipped from the booth hand in hand, smiling as she grabbed the photos and returning with the others._

_She always kept it framed in her bedroom until now._

_"Thank you, Rosie but I didn't get you anything."_

_"Just promise me you'll come home, safe and all together."_

_"Was I really together to begin with."_

_"Excellent point," she laughed as she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat, "I'm really going to miss you."_

_He smiled, holding her tightly as he brought his lips to hers. She stood on her toes to deepen the kiss only to have it break his heart more._

_"I love you, Rosie."_

_"Now you tell me."_

_He didn't want to leave her but she had pulled away, not wanting the moment to grow stagnant. She kept a smile to her face as she pushed him from the alley. He kept his eyes on her for as long as he could as he stepped into the cab._

_The blue dress under her apron, her ruby red lips smiling on as her curly brown hair stretched in the wind._

_He promised himself he wouldn't break in front of her. He took the deep breath he needed as he balled his fists, setting his jaw enough to hurt. He felt his uniform tighten around his chest as the cab stopped in front of the movie theater, he already knew where Steve was._

_The night was longer than he thought. The Stark convention was strangely bopping and his dates weren't as pretty as Rosie but he managed. Steve left off earlier in the night to his own devices. The dancing, the drinks and the good night kisses were done and over with as he stared as his ceiling. He held Rosie's picture as close to him as he could as he drifted to sleep._

 

_"I don't want to go."_

"Are you okay, hun?"

He didn't realize he had fallen asleep at the table. People had come and gone as the evening had progressed. Rosemary placed a large plate of food in front of him. He ended up devouring the plate in front of her as she refilled his cup.

"I've seen you here before or at least in the alley. It's not safe out there."

"I have nowhere to go."

That was secure.

"Just try not to be in this part of town in the summer."

"Okay."

Half of his plate was almost gone with his stomach filling up quickly. Another night without food and he would have most likely died. She started to walk away with a smile as something caught his eye. He stopped her, eyeing the old rosary attached to her wrist.

"Are you religious?"

"Sometimes," he whispered.

"This, um, was my great grandmother's. Her boyfriend got it for her when he fought in World War II. I heard he got it blessed by Pope Pius XII, that's pretty cool. He didn't make it home to her though. There was a train accident, I don't remember how she told it."

"That's sad."

"Yeah, I know but he really loved her and that's something you don't see everyday."

"Rosemary," the cop came back as she walked away with her empty plate, "One of the guys got away so I suggest keeping your door locked."

"Really?"

"You can press charges with the one guy if you want but I need your guys' statement and get him to the hospital if he's injured."

"Fine, just don't scare him off."

They all turned in the direction of the booth, seeing it empty. The side door slammed in the wind as Rosemary shook her head.

"Where'd he go?"

"You scared him off."

-

Bucky waited on the roof as he watched the man try at the door. With a broken wrist, he had a great amount of trouble trying to break into Rosemary's apartment. The man was in too much pain to hear him drop to his feet from two stories above. Bucky took a step forward from the shadows.

"This isn't your house."

The man turned, stunned the homeless person was there.

"Fuck off, this isn't your business."

"This is my business."

He reached forward, grabbing the man by the throat. Bucky walked deeper into the side alley so the man's choking wouldn't be heard. The man's body dragged on the ground with no chance of finding any footing. Bucky lifted him up to the brick wall, watching the horror grow in the man's eyes as Bucky's sleeve dropped, showing the mechanical arm.

"If I see you here, near her diner, or anywhere in this city, I will find you and tear you to shreds."

He dropped the man on the ground. He was gone in a flash as Bucky stayed still. He looked down to the door. Her door.

The man did a piss poor job of trying to break in when he should have just looked under the brick to find the spare key. Bucky opened the door and entered the alarm code that he knew by heart.

He only did ths a few times a week now, careful to stay his distance. He followed the stairs, listening to her steady breath until he was at the top of the staircase, looking into her room. Her clothes from the day lined the floor. He shut the door as he always did, making his way through the house.

He washed up as quietly as he could, scrubbing clean what skin and clothes he could manage. His fingers found the photos under the couch as he flipped through each one.

There was Rosie in the first picture as a baby. Then the Coney Island. A marriage photo with her in a white dress, she would have taken a while to cope with his death, for whatever they may have told her.

 

" _Steve, I need you to do something for me."_

_They stood at the top of the zip-line waiting for the train. Bucky reached into his pocket only for a second as he pulled out the rosary he found in a flea market._

_"No, Bucky. Nothing is going to happen."_

_"Please. I've never asked for anything. Just try and see what Carter can do about getting it blessed."_

_"By whom, the Pope?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Wow, you really do love her."_

_"I made her a promise and I intend to keep it but..."_

_"It's okay," whispered Steve as he tucked it away into his suit. "I'll give it back when the mission is done, then I'll see if Stark can drop us off in Vatican City."_

_Bucky smiled, thinking of marrying Rosie proper in the Catholic church her mother went to._

_"Heads up, Soldiers. Here comes the train."_

_Bucky never really liked trains but he was willing to jump this one for Rosie._

 

He looked down to his arm, watching the metal shine in the moonlight. More pictures of Rosie.

Three children, grandkids, a big family that could have been his. A young blond woman holding her baby, this one was old but new. Baby Rosemary.

Bucky put the picture away, listening to the train go by, taking it as a sign. He opened her door as she still slept. Bucky always enjoyed watching her sleep. Her messy brown hair across the pillow, her shirt bunched around her stomach. She almost looked like her but he knew deep down that it wasn't and never would be.

He moved into the bed next to her, still so sound. His metal arm pulled her close as he inhaled, taking in her scent. Rosemary stirred a bit before moving back, molding to his body.

"Bucky," she whispered.

He smiled, as he kicked off his boots.

 _Just for a little while_ , he thought to himself as he closed his eyes. He had done this before, sleeping in the bed with her and leaving before she woke.

She was not Rosie and he was glad.

He would always be there for Rosemary.

 


End file.
